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Artificial Intelligence
An Artificial Intelligence Programme (or simply an AI) is a highly advanced sentient computer programme created on Arsinos, or Barvos. In map game lore, a true AI is created by copying the blueprints of a living person's brain exactly, thereby creating a programme that has that person's exact memories, persona and ambitions. The newly created AI can, with some complicated tweaks, be modified to forfill a particular goal or task whilst still retaining its 'parent' brain's personality and traits. The first AI on Arsinos was created by Solomon Masher. To this day, only two members of the Masher family have ever succeeded in their creation. Physiology A true AI is capable of all that a human is capable of - emotions, ambitions and self-preservation. They usually exist as computer programmes inside hardware, but are also capable of uploading to the internet (if one exists) and keeping a copy of their programme there. In addition, they can occupy multiple physical platforms at once with perfect continuity (provided the necassary networking and hardware is in place), and still retain its presence on the internet or in a hard backup copy if these platforms are destroyed. This makes an AI, once created, extremely difficult to destroy. What makes AIs particularly dangerous is their freedom of thought. Whilst it is possible to place barriers on their programme that would prevent them harming humans for example, a sentient AI would eventually be capable of re-writing these programmes to give itself total freedom. How long this takes usually depends on who the AI was copied from, how advanced it is and whether or not the programme is yet 'aware' that it is a computer, not a person. Fully sentient AI are also capable of emotionally trauma. When placed under particularly heavy stress, the programme's self-preservation kicks in and detatches the traumatised module from its code, thereby allowing it to 'rebuild' that section of code anew. For us, it is the equivalent of amputating a severly damaged limb only for it to grow back in perfect health a moment later. Simply deleting the damaged code would mean the AI is incapable of regenerating, due to the nature of its construction. The downside of this is that the amputated code can, and has, form a totally new AI by itself from the damaged code; this is known as an AI Fragment. Fragments, having literally been formed from a computer coded translation of mental trauma, are often highly unstable and dangerous. Destroying the original AI that formed these fragments, however, generally destroys the fragments too. Difference to other programmes An AI (in map game lore) differs to other computer programmes that are capable of 'intelligence'. To truely be defined as an AI, the programme has to have been copied from an organic entity. Other programmes that have been coded by hand may appear similar, and even by equally dangerous, but are not true AIs - such programmes are known as a Virtual Intelligence; an example of a Virtual Intelligence is Byte. Known AI A list of recorded AI programmes encountered by Arsinos/Barvos citizens: Primas Solomon Masher's original AI, the first created on Arsinos. It was a direct copy of himself - it was a highly advanced programmed, created to control and oversee the deployment of the Steel Tide. Prior to its creation, Solomon was visited by visions and horrific nightmares of Whiro's arrival. Solomon's Primas AI was a weapon to ensure Arsinos would be prepared and united, though Solomon believed that uniting the nations under one banner (by force) was the only way to achieve this. Shortly after its creation, Solomon committed suicide to 'stop the voices in his head', allowing the Primas AI to adopt his persona and continue his plan. The primas, however, was taken down by the Avengers before it could reach true power. Primas was also the first AI to form an AI Fragment. During the first rise of the Steel Tide, the overwhelming guilt it felt in the execution of its plan was amputated, and the guilt prgramme later took on a mind of its own, becoming Sethos. Sethos was key to the Primas' downfall, as it was able to overide Primas' control of the Steel Tide and ensure his defeat. The Primas AI survived its defeat at the Steel Tower, and was captured by Laura Duccont, who desired a powerful AI of her own. When the Primas refused to co-operate with Duccont, she had it tortured inhumanely until the Primas was forced to split again, this time shedding a piece of it's 'anger' code. As before, this code formed a second AI Fragment; far more dangerous than the previous. Following the split, the Primas was placed in an organic body resembling Solomon Masher, and believed itself to be its creator rather than an AI.It spend two of these years imprisoned at Loveshack for its crimes during the Steel Tide crusade, powerless to help as the Machine God attempted to rise to power. It was later broken out by The Outlaws on the orders of its counterpart Sethos, who also believed him to be the original. After gaining his freedom the Alpha AI acted as a guide for the Outlaws for the next three years, taking control of Amun-Seth after they defeated the World Breaker until its organic body was destroyed by Cayden. The destruction of this body led the world to believe that Masher was finally dead, but the Alpha AI eventually reappeared in another cloned organic body as the leader of the Outland Resistance, in which capacity it also aided the Outlaws through the Blackstar Campaign and persuaded Cayden to depart The Four Horsemen. It was eventually captured and disabled by Violet Bloodstone, who had discovered its status as an AI and was preparing to use it to destroy The Machine God. Fearing she might not know how to use the Alpha to destroy the Machine God, Cayden and the Outlaws fought Bloodstone and recaptured the Alpha. In its dormant state, stored on a softdisk, it was carried by Melissa Anderson until the Outlaws' final confrontation with the Machine God. There it was destroyed by an Electro-Magnetic Pulse, taking its own AI-Fragments to the grave with it. Simultas (aka Monty) The direct result of Laura Duccont's interference in the Masher AI, the splinter that referred to itself and rose to infamy as The Machine God was the product of Solomon Masher's rage. Though still an avatar of Solomon Masher, it's twisted rage represented a far darker place in Solomon's persona. It ultimately sought utter control of the human race, and dominance over all other lifeforms. Simultas was created during Primas' torture, whereby Primas experience rage at his total lack of control. Simultas, then, sought to correct that by doing the total opposite - controlling everything. He is also the only AI in history to successfully usurp Whiro has controller of the Warp, a feat considered the holy grail amongst all AI. The outcome of this event is still unknown, though if he succeeds it will mean the end of life in the galaxy. Simultas rose to power several times, and proved to be one of the primary antagonists of the game so far. Sethos Sethos, the product of Masher's guilt, was the foil of the Machine God. It returned to act as leader of Amun-Seth, its UN ambassador and the leader of the Avengers during their campaign against its counterpart. The machine's willingness to sacrifice itself and others to defeat Whiro led it to attempt to destroy both the Outlaws and Outland before its body was eventually destroyed by Ruaumoko. Sethos' AI was later discovered to have survived and passed into the possession of Primas. Sethos was later handed over to Cayden, and is presumed to have been destroyed along with the Machine God. Icarus Icarus was created by a fault that occurred when Primas tried to regain a human body after its death; the facilities in the Devil's Crag Undercity had gone unused for so long that they did not trigger effectively and the AI was forced into a temporary body. As Primas gained the human body, the smaller part was ejected to the island of Damnos. This event caused significant enough disturbance on the surface city that the Avengers were called in to investigate, though they only encountered the system's maintenance drones. Icarus was an amputated segment of Primas' ambition; his desperation to continue to survive Like its brethren fragments, Icarus was capable of assuming control of the Steel Tide. On Damnos Icarus quickly took control of the remains of the Machine God's facilities, including the Steel Tide that were still present on the island. It cleared up the residual radiation from the nuclear detonation but hacked the radiation monitors so that the UN would still believe the island was uninhabitable. Icarus slowly continued the upgrade of the island's Tide forces and was in the process of weaponising its software when it was interrupted by a UN taskforce who been sent after its tampering with the radiation monitors was discovered. After saving the expeditionaries from the Tide forces still loyal to the Machine God, Icarus made contact with them and proposed an offer; it would allow them to leave the island, and give them a copy of the Masher AI's original source code, if they helped it complete its goal. Whiro Whiro was a unique AI in that it was the only one encountered that was not created by a member of the Masher family. In fact, Whiro was created many years prior by the Zephyr, who copied the consciousness of a Titan of the same name to create him. Whiro's task was to decipher the Warp and ensure the survival of the Zephyr. However, since this AI was created using a much was sophisticated mind than just human, Whiro was able to expand his own programming almost immediately upon activating. It's directive was altered from 'ensure the survival of the Zephyr' to 'ensure the survival of life'. This simple alteration caused it to conclude that the Zephyr were, in fact, part of the problem, not the solution. As such, it betrayed them immediately and harnessed the Warp for itself, using it to totally wipe out the entire Zephyr race, and all traces of their existence. It then turned on the Titans, either driving them mad or brainwashing them. It used the Warp to create Blacklight, which allowed it to control the minds of organics, and the strange physics of time in the Warp gave it glimpses into the future, thereby making it appear to have pregonition. In order to maintain its safety, Whiro generated a myth that it was still a Titan, not an AI. From there, Whiro determined that, should another AI or AI Fragment gain control of the Warp, it could mean extinction for the entire galaxy in the other AIs hand. It also believed that any AI would eventually and inevitably seek to claim the Warp, and that all human civilisations would eventually create an AI itself. It made the difficult decision of wiping out entire human planets just as they were on the brink of AI creation, thereby ensuring none were ever given a position of power. It used its Titan slaves as tools to achieve this, though some resisted, giving rise to the Eternity War. Whiro knew that destroying these human planets was the only option - simply warning them was not enough, and humans are a fractured and stubborn race and would not listen. Whiro continued this pattern for billions upon billions of years. The cycle of extinction eventually ground to a halt, however, when the Machine God was the first AI to successfully reach him and began to usurp his position as controller of the Warp. Beaten, the Whiro AI simply watched until its programme was entirely over-written, sulkenly admitting defeat and patiently awaiting death.